Dentists, orthodontists in particular, often use orthodontic hardware such as brackets and archwires in the prevention or correction of irregularities of the teeth. An orthodontic bracket is generally a metal or ceramic part fastened to a tooth to serve as a means for fastening an archwire. An archwire is a metal wire that is attached to the brackets to move the teeth of a patient in a manner desired by the patient's dentist. In treating a patient, a dentist will generally use a standard set of 24–28 brackets and 1 archwire engaged into these brackets to apply the forces needed for tooth movement.
Archwires generally vary in regard to shape, size, and type of wire used. In previously known methods, initial selection of an archwire is typically accomplished by examination of a patient's teeth to determine what size and shape of archwire would be appropriate for that patient. In many instances, the shape to be used is determined by looking at the shape formed by the occlusal surfaces of the teeth, or by looking at the shape formed by the labial and buccal surfaces of the teeth. Unfortunately, determining an appropriate shape by looking at the occlusal or the labial and buccal surfaces of a patient's teeth does not always result in selection of the optimum archwire shape. Such selection is generally made more difficult due to variations in tooth shape, position and orientation. Moreover, although taught in school, selecting custom archwire shapes for each individual patient is generally too time consuming for the dentist/orthodontist, reducing the number of patients that can be seen in a day, and increasing the fee for those patients being treated.